Every March, Mom progressively got her Irish up early in the month, building to a burst of pride on St. Paddy's Day. "Erin go Bragh!" she said it loud, and I did too, "Ireland Forever," when I was 5.
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My grandfather, Thomas E. Pryor, was baptized in St. Patrick's Cathedral on December 23, 1900. It was a short walk for the family, James, Mary, Edward, 4, the baby and the two godparents from the apartment in 820 Third Avenue near the corner of 50th Street. The Third Avenue El faced their 3rd floor windows. The rails weren't electrified until 1904. Steam engines trains tore by day and night. Noise & soot covered their front room.
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James and Mary died of pneumonia in 1909. Edward, 12, and Thomas, 8, were placed in Father Drumgoole's Home for Homeless Newsboys at the southern tip of Staten Island. Also known as Mount Loretto, it was a 500 acre working dairy farm where the boys and later girls made their own clothing and shoes. My grandfather was in the home for six years. More later.
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photos:
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~Thomas E. Pryor, 13 in 1914 in front of the Mt.Loretto Church at the Home. The Church was used in the baptism scene in "The Godfather" film in 1972.
~820 Third Avenue in 1939. Its the second building from left to right.
~Copy of the 1900 birth certificate
~My photo last year of St. Paddy's from behind Atlas in front of Rockefeller Center.
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